monstertruckfandomcom-20200215-history
Fatal Monster Truck Incidents
WARNING: This page contains graphic content that may disturb some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised. This page is a list of Fatal Monster Truck incidents. Please note that fatal accidents are quite rare in the Monster Truck industry, as such incidents have led to promoters creating new safety restrictions to prevent them from ever happening again. Bad Medicine At a 1992 USHRA race at the Niagara Falls Convention Center in Niagara Falls, New York, the truck Bad Medicine was racing Taurus. After landing the truck veered off across the track, then went over a bit of the railing in the stands and the tire crushed Lester Gilliam, who pushed a little boy out of the way in order to spare him. The cause was that driver Don Van Loo was knocked unconscious and the right rear tire's bead cracked. Note that a similar, non-fatal incident occurred prior in Oklahoma City when the truck hit a wall at full speed, making Bad Medicine one of the most infamous and controversial trucks of all time. Over Excited Three months after the Niagara Falls incident, a similar one occurred at Galesburg Raceway in Michigan where the driver was knocked unconscious, and hit six-year-old Todd Abbott in the aisles of the grandstands. Monster Patrol Not much is known about this incident, other than that this was one of Tom Meents' first shows with Monster Patrol and he lost control in the middle of a straight line drag style race, due to his steering breaking after a hard landing. The truck lost control and hit a pile of hay bales some members of the audience were sitting on, off to the side of the track (however the truck might have been stopped afterwards after the RII was triggered). Unfortunately, this incident fatally injured one of Tom's best friends at the time, as he was sitting on the bales with some other fans. Miami 1997 While not caused by a monster truck, at a Monster Jam event in 1997 at Miami, a stunt bike driver named Corey Scott was killed after an attempted stunt failed. He jumped at a vertical net, but rather than land on and grab it, he bounced off the net, and fell nearly 3 stories (60 feet) to his death. Liquidator According to rumor, Liquidator once ran over a girl who ran in the pits at a show. Natural High On January 17th, 2009 at the Tacoma Dome in Washington the truck Natural High was freestyling, when during a seemingly normal turn a piece of the driveshaft came out, flew into the stands and struck six-year old Sebastian Hizey, killing him. This incident would lead to mandatory colored driveshaft loops, SIR's driveshaft blanket system and was rumored to be the reason that the Captain's Curse racing crash from that year's World Finals has never been shown in official footage, in order to not garner any more controversy. Samson Exactly one week later in Madison, Wisconsin, after a race between Samson and Holman's Beast, Dan Patrick was driving the truck back into the pits when announcer George Eisenhart stepped out from a barrier and onto the track. Patrick did not see Eisenhart as he was beyond the truck's field of vision and he was struck by the tire fatally. Unlike most of these incidents, this one was not seen as an error on the truck's part, as it was impossible for Patrick to see Eisenhart before he stepped on the track. It is believed George had come out to end racing and did not see Patrick. A more detailed description of the accident can be found here. Big Show In October of 2013 in Chihuahua, Mexico, the truck Big Show (formerly Fly-N-Hi) was doing an exhibition, when the driver lost control and went into the crowd killing eight and injuring seventy nine. This is the single deadliest monster truck incident in history; however the event did not have proper safety precautions and the driver was rumored to be under the influence of alcohol. The event was not MTRA certified, so many safety precautions were unaccounted for. Eurol's King on Wheels Almost a year later in the Netherlands, the truck Eurol's King on Wheels (formerly Extreme Overkill and American Cowboy) had a similar incident as Big Show, killing five and injuring dozens. The cause was again lack of safety precautions, the brakes were reportedly not working, and no one was carrying a Remote Ignition Interrupter to stop the truck. The driver was reportedly charged with manslaughter. As of this day, this is the last fatal monster truck event. Category:Monster Truck Incidents